title: Recovery of interleukin-17 production from interleukin-15-stimulated CD4+ mononuclear cells in HIV-1-infected patients with sustained viral suppression.
abstract: Interleukin-17 (IL-17) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is mainly produced by CD4+ T cells. The role of Th17 during the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection is still unclear, but HIV-1 infection can cause a preferential depletion of Th17 cells. It has been shown that IL-15 elicits IL-17 production from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We studied the effect of IL-15 stimulation in vitro on IL-17 production from CD4+ mononuclear cells of HIV-infected patients. We observed that IL-15 triggers, in a dose-dependent manner, IL-17 secretion. This effect was blocked by anti-IL-15 monoclonal antibody (P=0.01). Interestingly, IL-17 production was significantly lower in patients with detectable plasma viremia when compared with successfully treated HIV-infected patients (P=0.02) and healthy controls, respectively (P<0.001). We also noticed a significant difference in IL-17 production between naïve HIV-infected patients and patients with virological failure on combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) (P=0.02). Our results suggest that IL-15 can induce IL-17 production from peripheral CD4+ mononuclear cells of HIV-infected patients. Persistent HIV plasma viremia could cause a severe perturbation of IL-17 production from CD4+ mononuclear cells. IL-17 production in HIV-infected patients could be recovered through a sustained suppression of the viral replication in the peripheral blood through cART.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health and Infectious Disease, University of Rome "Sapienza," Rome, Italy .
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zaffiri
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: d'Ettorre
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ceccarelli
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andreotti
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marcellini
authors.forename: Noemi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giustini
authors.forename: Tommaso
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ascoli-Bartoli
authors.forename: Claudio M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mastroianni
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vella
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vullo
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000276:immunology*; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D019409:Interleukin-15; D020381:Interleukin-17